Night in New Orleans

An original script by Dr. Janet Gupton. It begins in New Orleans in 1918 at the height of the last pandemic and travels backward to 1897 when New Orleans' notorious red-light district "Storyville" is opened. The script is a fictionalized account based on three real-life madams who transform themselves into their own “brand.” These women became very successful business women during one of the most virulent racist eras of the South when Jim Crow laws were rampant but sex across the color line was the most lucrative product on the market. Songs and dances from the period have been included.